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A Play application only needs to include the Play JAR files to run properly. These JAR files are published to the Maven Repository so you can use any Java or Scala build tool to build a Play project. However, Play provides an enhanced development experience (support for routes, templates compilation and auto-reloading) when using the sbt or Gradle build tools.

Play example projects available from Lightbend Tech Hub automatically download dependencies and have ./sbt and sbt.bat launchers for Unix and Windows environments, respectively. You do not have to install sbt to run them.

Play example projects available from Lightbend Tech Hub automatically download dependencies and have ./gradlew or gradlew.bat launchers for Unix and Windows environments, respectively. You do not need to install Gradle to run them.

If you are ready to start your own project and want to use Gradle, refer to the Gradle install page to install Gradle launcher on your system. If you run into problems after installing, check Gradle’s documentation for help. We recommend that you use the latest version of Gradle.

You are now ready to work with Play! to learn about Play hands-on, try the examples as described on the next page. If you have sbt installed, you can create a new Play project with a single command, using our giter8 Java or Scala template. The templates set up the project structure and dev environment for you. You can also easily integrate Play projects into your favorite IDE.